


In Woe of Romance

by LigerCat



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Bets & Wagers, Dating, F/M, Gen, High School, Manipulative Relationship, Pre-Episode: s04e47 Act Your Age, Secret Crush, Unhealthy Relationships, not much real plot here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LigerCat/pseuds/LigerCat
Summary: Ferb reflects on the gang's romance relationships.
Relationships: Brigitte/Buford van Stomm, Ginger Hirano/Baljeet Tjinder, Phineas Flynn/Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz/Ferb Fletcher
Kudos: 37





	In Woe of Romance

"You are dating a grown woman while you are still in high school. That is not a good basis for a healthy relationship." 

Ferb allowed his face to express his feelings about that in the form of a high raised eyebrow and a slightly amused curl of his lips. He didn't know why Baljeet was broaching the subject now. Except perhaps because of the school dance coming up. It wouldn't surprise him if Ginger had put him up to it to cause dissension in the hope it would lead to him accepting an invite from one of her friends.

Only a blind man, or someone like Phineas, wouldn't be able to see that several of their classmates had a blatant interest in him, and some believed Vanessa to be made up. For what purpose, Ferb wasn't sure. A pretend girlfriend wasn't what he'd call useful.

It also showed how little Ginger knew him, despite spending numerous days with him during Phineas and his projects. He would be happy to take one of the girls to the dance without any manipulations, as long as she understood it would be completely platonic.

On the subject of manipulations. "Don't you find it slightly hypnotical that you are lecturing me on healthy relationships when you manipulate your girlfriend daily?"

Baljeet didn't look up from typing his report. "It is how we show love."

That made Ferb wish his eyebrow was not already at maximum height. Or that Baljeet would, at the very least, look up to see the expression he was being given. Recognizing a lost cause for what it was, he fell back into his default blankness.

Ferb, like most of their extended group, had found it sweet when Baljeet and Ginger first got together. Unlike the rest, his view of the relationship quickly changed the more he witnessed the way they treated each other. They seemed perfectly happy with the situation, but Ferb had doubts about how long it would last.

That no one else saw it was par for the course. They had odd views on romance. He was fully aware of the school-wide bets being placed on when Phineas and Isabella would start dating. The gang and former Fireside troop all had 'before college.' With that deadline drawing nearer, he was nervous about what lengths they might go to to ensure a win. Already, he had quietly sabotaged more than one extreme plot launched by someone outside the group.

He had to wonder if Melissa knew how far people would go when she started the larger betting pool. If so, it almost made him wish he were the type that would be okay with hitting a girl. He would have to ask Vanessa to do it for him instead.

But her intentions behind doing it didn't matter. No one should be so invested in other people's love life. It was the type of creepy obsessiveness he'd come to expect from Irving--who, oddly enough, had no apparent interest in the matter--but not everyone else.

Reflecting on that, he realised that if he wasn't with Vanessa, he still wouldn't want to seriously date any of his classmates. They were nuts.

With Baljeet's manipulations, Phineas and Isabella's useless pining, and Buford's long-distance relationship with that French girl who claimed to be dating him in an act of rebellion, Ferb thought, in his humble opinion, that his relationship was the most healthy in their friend group. Age-gap be darned.


End file.
